The time, 3,209. The place, modern day Canterlot. Since the beginning of Celestia's rule, peace has prospered over the land of Equestria. As time progressed, so did the technology of ponykind. Buildings became skyscrapers. Big business began its expansion. The marketing industry became so important, Celestia herself eventually had to start a business to keep the masses under her rule. Business was everything. The advancement of technology was all that mattered. Making the lives of everyday ponies just that tiny bit easier. This led to rough competition, and eventually organized crime broke loose. Sophisticated gangs sprung forth. Soon, it wasn't even about the business or the ponies, but the bits.
There was hope though. Celestia foresaw this before hoof and set out to find a way to fight this way of life that overtook her lands. Thus, she formed the Harmonic Elements, a group of six highly trained individuals that undertook exclusive missions against these forces. Business and bits were all that mattered, and as long as those principles applied, nopony in the game was safe, from the largest of corporations to the smallest of family markets...
"So we've all reached an agreement then?" Luna asked the ponies sitting around her table. "I'll sell thirty percent of the company's shares to Berry here in exchange for a seventy percent production increase on our newest product."
Luna was the head of Canterlot's most prestigious bed company Dream Beds, selling the finest 'bargain' brand mattresses that a pony could buy. She was worth eight hundred thousand bits, and that was at the least.
She wore an all black suit, a white collar button up under with a smooth red tie to complement. Her mane was pent up in a ponytail, hanging over her right shoulder to look professional. She wore her crown with pride, a jewel to represent her relation to her ruling sister.
A pony stood from across the room, diverting his attention from the glow of the city at night. "May I offer an alternative?"
Luna shot him a distasteful frown. "No, you may not. Any more que-"
She was silenced by a loud noise coming from downstairs. Everypony in the room stood quiet, listening. A static was heard. The intercom came on, but nothing except the fizz was heard. Suddenly, it turned off and there was silence once more. Luna sat back down and pressed a button under the table.
"Hello? Clary? What was that noise?" No response. "Clary?" The lights went out, and the ponies started to panic. Luna used her royal voice.
"Quiet everypony!" she forcefully yelled. An eerie calm fell over them. The city's glow dimly lit the room. Luna's voice lowered back to normal. "Listen, just remain calm. I've got security all over this place. They'd have to breach fifteen floors of highly trained guards to-"
Part of the ceiling crashed down, a dark figure dropping and lifting the mare back up. Just as they entered the newly created hole, the office doors burst open and gunfire boomed for a complete minute. After, the sound of guns reloading along with hoof-steps were heard.
"They escaped..." a pony said with a sigh. She turned to the group of fully armored gunmen standing at the door. "Well, what are you looking at? Find her! And if you can, try not to kill her. She's worth more alive than dead."
"Yes ma'am!" the group answered.
"Trixie," a voice said through the pony's earpiece.
"Yes sir? What is it?" Trixie was the head of Canterlot West Police Department, or C.W.P.D. for short. After many years of training after failing the chance to join the Harmonic Elements, she turned to a life of police work. She was, of course, the most corrupt officer in all of Canterlot, but also the best. Her standard grey police uniform was only specialized by the badge she proudly wore with authority.
"What's the mission status?"
"Not good sir. It seems we were beaten to the princess. Who knows how far they've gotten by now." Trixie sighed. It wasn't normal for her to fail missions.
"Well, you better start tracking her down. Our intelligence told us she was last seen negotiating just before you entered."
"Yes sir. Understood." She stepped out the door.
"It's about time they left," the dark figure said, looking over to the princess who was tied up with tape over her mouth. The pony wore a mask and a full black, coat tight outfit. "Now if I take the tape off, will you be quiet?"
Luna nodded. The pony easily took off the tape and was immediately questioned. "Who are you?" Luna nearly yelled. A hoof was brought to her muzzle followed by a few shushes.
"It's me." The pony removed her mask to show her tri-colored mane and horn. "Twilight."
Twilight was the head of the Harmonic Elements. Her cunning and wits, along with intelligence and continuous training with many different fields made her an easy choice for the job. She was a silent operative mostly, carrying a knife and silenced pistol. Her magic was rarely used, seeing as most of modern technology cancelled it out. She usually did most missions on the field herself.
"Twilight? How did you know? Who sent you?" Luna kept her voice down.
"Your sister sent us. A local spy told her everything." Her earpiece began to softly ring. "Yes?"
"Oh good, you're okay."
"Yes Pinkie. We're fine." Pinkie Pie was the communications expert. She was rarely seen on field. Her job was to keep all of the team in contact and set up surveillance around the city. She carried no weapon, as she was against the act of killing anypony. When she wasn't on the field, she was at the team's headquarters in Ponyville.
"I'm looking at the Dream Beds facility's front door and tenth floor. From what I can see, you're in the clear."
"Gotcha. Thanks, Pinkie." Twilight motioned for Luna to follow her. Taking the same route back would be too difficult for the alicorn, so they had to do the next best thing. Exit through the front door.
Pinkie buzzed in again. "Remember, I only have a view of these two areas. I'm dark on the rest of the place."
Luna and Twilight were in the elevator when she heard this. "Where's Rainbow Dash? Isn't she on scene?"
Rainbow Dash was the Harmonic Element's explosive expert. After an outstanding display with her sonic rainboom and unmatched speed in setting explosives, she earned her rankings in the team. She worked on scene for bigger cases, and seldom carried a gun. Her weapon of choice was always grenades or landmines.
"Sorry, Twilight. She's been silent for the past hour. I can't seem to get in touch with her." The elevator stopped on the tenth floor.
"Are we still clear on floor ten?" Twilight asked.
"Yes, but be careful." Luna was breathing heavily.
"What do they want with me?" she asked the unicorn.
"Calm down, Luna. I'll explain everything when we get out of here." The elevator doors slowly opened.
The tenth floor was completely destroyed. Tables were flipped, windows were broken, and papers were everywhere. The two began to make their way to the second elevator on the other side of the room.
"How much longer can Applejack keep the reserve power running on the elevators, Pinkie?" Twilight asked.
"Not too much longer. She said another ten minutes at best."
Applejack was the team's engineering expert. Years of working on hundreds of mechanics and uncanny repairing ability respectively placed her among one of the finest in Equestria. When she wasn't taking on missions, she was tinkering with new ways to fix things or making prototypes for new guns. Her weapon was usually a mixture of whatever she could find and combine on the field.
"That's going to cut it close."
The second elevator suddenly started opening. Twilight quickly grabbed the princess and knocked her behind a table. She did likewise, head turned sideways to the bottom end of the furniture.
"Twilight, I'm seeing five armored C.W.P.D., all five of them with standard equipment. Three to your left, one in front, and one to your right." The unicorn grabbed her pistol from her side and held it up.
"How close?" she whispered.
"Twenty hooves. All of them. But you better be quick, Twilight."
Twilight took a deep breath. Just before she jumped up though, a metal ding stopped her. All five of the C.W.P.D. turned to investigate. There was a sudden boom, all five flying through the air.
"Twilight!" Pinkie yelled. "Are you alright? What happened?" The mare coughed before looking up to a cyan hoof extended toward her.
"Hey Twilight. Ya need a hoof there?" Rainbow Dash said with a devilish grin. Luna was scared stiff by the sudden explosion.
"Rainbow Dash! Where have you been? Pinkie hasn't been able to contact you." Twilight's tone was scornful toward the pegasus.
"My earpiece broke," she explained.
Rainbow Dash wore a ragged brown vest, a dusty red baseball cap, and baggy cargo khakis. Bandage wrap was around her left fore hoof, and right hind leg. A silver digital watch was around the right hoof to ensure precise timing of her explosives.
"How?"
"I smashed it."
"That's probably why it broke!" Twilight blared.
"Probably. Now let's get out of here. I've got better things to do than sit around here and listen to you yell at me all day." Her arrogant attitude always rubbed Twilight the wrong way, and the unicorn was about to object when Pinkie broke into the conversation.
"I hate to say it Twilight, but she's right. Applejack said five minutes left."
"Fine, let's go. Rainbow Dash, help the princess." She stepped into the next elevator.
"Can do boss! Come on Luna, let's go." She pushed the stiff alicorn into the metal box and pushed the button with F1 printed on it. The doors closed, and they started their decent.
"It won't be long before they notice something's up," Twilight remarked. "Pinkie, keep a close eye on the front."
"Yes ma'am."
"And is our ride ready to pick us up?"
"Outside waiting. Just across the street."
"Thanks." Twilight put her gun in her hilt and sighed.
"So are we in the clear, Twilight?" Luna asked.
"Almost. Once we get into the car, we'll be safe." The elevator stopped. "Are we still clear, Pinkie?"
"From all angles, yes. But you better hurry. I hacked into the earpiece frequency on those police ponies, and they've sent backup."
"On it." The doors began to ease open. "As soon as the doors open all the way, make a dash for the car on the other side of the road. Don't stop for anything."
A ding was heard, and the three mares flashed to the front. The room around them was no better than the floor above them, except the entire front was a gaping hole where the initial explosion had been. Across the street was a long black limousine. The driver window was down, and driving was the white unicorn, Rarity.
Rarity was the entire income source for the group. Having her own shop of goods, all traded, self-made, or imported, really helped the team. That, along with a large chain of contacts and business partners helped place her on the team. If it was needed, she could buy it. If it was unwanted, she could sell it. She carried automatic hoofguns as her choice weapon.
She was sitting and listening to the radio blast out electric piano when the three came flying out of the building. Her elegant purple dress, frilled with a hat to match, hugged her coat. She was the only team member to wear jewelry, wearing only an imported golden desert necklace on missions, and a whole assortment when not.
"Hurry up darlings. I don't want anypony seeing you enter. It's hard enough driving unnoticed when you're in a car like this." Her tone was stuck up, but she made up for it in personality. Most of the time anyway.
Rainbow Dash was the first, opening the door for the other two who quickly dove inside. When she entered, sirens sounded in the distance. Closing the door, Rarity rolled her window up and began down the road.
"Is everypony okay?" Rarity asked through a window behind the front seat. This startled Luna.
"Luna's a bit shook up, but she'll be fine," Twilight answered. "Still, get Fluttershy down at HQ. We may need her to look over her."
Fluttershy was the medic of the Harmonic Elements. Her expertise with animal care, along with the care of other ponies, was unmatched across all of Equestria. She was only present on the largest of missions, and never carried a weapon. Her home outside of Ponyville was secluded, and she preformed her medical operations only to select ponies.
"No, no. I'm fine Twilight," Luna said, taking a few more deep breaths.
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure, thank you." She shook her head and began rubbing the side of her head. "So, why are they after me again?"
The lavender mare sighed. "Your business."
"My business?"
"Yea," Rainbow Dash interrupted. "Somepony out there has put a high price on your head, two million bits alive and nine hundred thousand dead."
"But we aren't sure on who that somepony is yet," Twilight continued. "All was know is he has connections with Trixie and her police force. Do you know of any competitors with that kind of money that hate you?"
Luna shook her head. "No, I don't. The only competition I have are family owned businesses outside of Canterlot. Nopony else sells my product."
"Any old enimies?" the pegasus asked.
"No. Not that I know of."
"I think it somepony who's trying to get at Celestia," Rarity interjected. "She does own forty percent of all the business in Canterlot."
"Right," Twilight agreed. "But they would want her alive then. For hostage. Why put a price for her dead?"
"Maybe so they can discourage her?" Rainbow Dash suggested.
"I don't know. All I know is that you're going under the radar until we figure this mess out princess. Celestia's orders."
"What about my business?" Luna asked.
"Celestia will pay for repairs and lost wages when we've sorted this whole mess out. Until then, you'll have to stay at HQ. Understand?"
She looked displeased with this information, but she nodded. "Understood."
"Great! Now, here we are." Luna glanced out the window. There stood an old run down building, an even older swing set out front along with cracked windows and crumbling sidewalk. "HQ..."
